City of Basketball Love

Josh Verlin (@jmverlin)
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PENNSBURG — Thomas Baudinet knew his team still had a chance. 

Down two points with 24 seconds left in regulation in a PAISAA state semifinal, Perkiomen School had a couple factors in its favor, even as Westtown School had the ball out of a timeout.

First, Perkiomen had the possession arrow pointing towards its bench, extra incentive to try and force a jump ball. Even more importantly, the Panthers hadn’t committed any fouls yet in the fourth quarter, meaning they’d have multiple chances to try to force a turnover on the inbounds pass before Westtown went to the line. 

The Moose’s first three inbounds passes found safe havens, three quick fouls running the clock down to below 20 seconds. It was the fourth one when Baudinet’s hopes paid off. An errant pass on the baseline ended up in the hands of senior Macon Emory, and the 6-foot-9 forward was fouled to send him to the line with 12.8 seconds on the clock and his team’s season in his hands.

“Going to the line I just wanted to make the shots, that’s all I was really focused on,” he said. “I knew I was going to make them, and I just had to do it.

“After the first one, I had really good confidence that I was going to make the second one.”

Emory’s game-tying foul shots gave the Panthers the extra time they needed. Perkiomen took advantage in overtime to win 71-64, earning Baudinet’s bunch a berth in their third straight independent school state title game.

The 2024 PAISAA championship will pit Perkiomen against Phelps School at 5 p.m. on March 3 at Hagan Arena on Saint Joseph’s City Avenue campus. Westtown and Friends’ Central will meet in the girls game. 

It was a game the Panthers looked like they were going to lose — the Moose were up five points in the final two minutes — but escaped to extend their season one last time.

“We’re very fortunate to make it out alive,” Baudinet said. “We were a little lucky, the fact that we had five fouls, that they had to inbound the ball five straight times helped. We were at three fouls, but on the fourth one they finally turned it over. 

“That’s hard to do, to inbound the ball that many times in a row. Eventually they finally threw one away.”

Junior guard K.J. Cochran, who finished with a team-high 19 points for Perkiomen — plus eight rebounds, three steals and two assists — hit a critical 3-pointer to answer one from Westtown, turning a 57-52 deficit into a 57-55 one with 1:07 left in regulation. Torin Bosch also had an important put-back layup with 24 seconds remaining, setting up Emory’s foul shots, after Westtown re-extended the lead to four.

Bosch, a New Jersey native who had previously been in Arizona before transferring to Perkiomen, finished with 12 points, three rebounds, three assists and three steals. Perkiomen junior wing Hayden Johns scored 14 points and grabbed four rebounds; point guard Alex Zakheim added eight points and three assists. 

Emory is one of the few holdouts from last year’s group, which graduated Thomas Haugh (Florida), Bobby Rosenberger (St. Francis), Preist Ryan (Coppin State) and more. Cochran, who transferred to Perkiomen from West Chester East last summer, will be playing for his first state championship.

“The people that are very close to me know that’s my goal, a state chip, that’s all I’ve wanted since I was little,” said the 6-foot-4 guard, who added he’s currently being recruited most heavily by Penn State, Virginia Tech, Xavier and Villanova. “That’s my goal, always.”

Overtime certainly wasn’t a letdown for the several hundred fans in attendance, including a sizable Perk student section. Emory, who’s bound for Delaware in the fall, wasn’t done with his clutch evening. His 3-pointer on the first possession of overtime, the last of his nine points, was easily the biggest shot of the night and made sure Perkiomen kept the momentum in the extra session.

Westtown wasn’t done.

Jayden Forsythe (12 points) answered with a 3-pointer to tie it up, then Bosch put Perk up two before the Moose’s Malik Rasul hit a pair of foul shots with 1:55 left in overtime.

But those were Westtown’s final points. The Moose missed their final six shots from the floor and had three overtime turnovers, Perkiomen going 6-of-10 on foul shots in the final two minutes to seal the win.

“I’ve been on the winning side of these games, and on the losing side of these games,” Westtown coach Seth Berger said. “There’s nothing you can tell the kids that’s going to make them feel any less pain in the moment, and how much pain we feel is a direct result of how much we care. That’s the time to tell them I love them, I’m proud of them, and as a coach I take responsibility for the loss."

Rasul, Westtown’s only starting senior, capped his high school career with a standout 21-point, six-rebound effort, shooting 7-of-8 from the floor. The 6-foot-7 wing will be at Lafayette this fall.

“For his last game as a senior, to go out with that kind of effort, is just incredible growth,” Berger said. “So proud of him, he could not have played a better game for his team, it was amazing to watch him play at that level.”

Cam Wallace added 17 points for Westtown. 

It was just two years ago that Baudinet was frustrated with his Panthers’ inability to get over the hump and get to a state championship game, the high-level prep school program trying to prove it belonged with the likes of Westtown, which won four of the six tournaments held between 2016 and 2022. 

They got to the state title game for the first time in 2022, Baudinet’s sixth season, then won it all last year, 79-77 in overtime on a pair of game-winning foul shots by Rosenberger after George School tried to call a timeout it didn’t have. 

“It’s an honor to be in this position, obviously,” he said, “that we’re kind of now the hunted, and not the hunter. It also comes with a lot of pressure [...] but I think if you want to be a great team like Westtown has been for so many years, that comes with the territory. 

“You’ve got to be able to take everybody’s best shot and still win.”

By Quarter
Perkiomen: 18  |  19  |   8   |  14  |  12  ||  71
Westtown:  22  |   6   |  17  |  14  |   5   ||  64

Shooting
Perkiomen: 23-53 FG (9-29 3PT), 16-22 FT
Westtown: 22-46 FG (6-17 3PT), 14-17 FT

Scoring
Perkiomen: KJ Cochran 19, Hayden Johns 14, Macon Emory 9, Alex Zakheim 8, Alfredo Adessa 7, Lucas Orchard 2

Westtown: Malik Rasul 21, Cam Wallace 17, Jayden Forsythe 12, Jahmare Memphis 6, Jayden Kelsey 5, Daveyon Lyndner 3

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PAISAA Boys

Semifinals (Fri., Feb. 23)
1) Phelps School 75, 4) Academy New Church 60
2) Perkiomen School 71, 11) Westtown School 64 (OT)

Championship (Sun., March 3, 7 p.m. at St. Joseph’s University)
1) Phelps School vs. 2) Perkiomen School